Pongo
by Avatar Robyn
Summary: A cold, a kid and a dog can actually do wonders for the beginning of a beautiful relationship.


_I do not own Once Upon a time, If I didn't. Two words: Swan Queen._

"Archie? Are you okay?"

Emma winced at the reflex question as soon as it left her mouth. It was clear that the man was anything but if his sluggish stance and layered clothed body wasn't an indicator, his complexion nearly pale enough to steal Snow White's name was a dead give away.

"I…" He began but fell victim to a coughing fit. Emma spared a glance to her side spotting Henry shifting a bit away from the coughing mess even as Archie covered his mouth with a handkerchief. She couldn't blame the kid, at the moment she personally felt like she needed a decontaminating shower not to mention she hated handkerchiefs, to her they were like reusing used tissues.

"Sorry." He breathed panting heavily, moving the cloth away from his face but not putting it in his pocket just yet for obvious reason.

"It's okay but shouldn't you be resting?" Emma asked trying not to look at the cloth in his hand. Instead, she focused on the obvious difference about the man besides his appearance. "Is Pongo missing again? I can find him for you or get David too."

"No, no," Archie gave a weak smile, "He's at home, a bit upset I'm afraid but I don't think I can handle taking him out today. I was just going to pick up some soup."

"From the store?" Emma asked with a frown, there was no way the man could make it all the way there and back in his condition. Hell the last time she had gotten sick with the flu, she could barely make it to the bathroom. One of the reason she learned to keep a bucket near by around those times just in case.

"No, Granny made me some herbal soup that should help me get better quicker. I was just…just…ju-" Artie sneezed into his handkerchief.

"You really should be resting."

Artie nodded, sniffling. "I know I just wanted to pick up the soup first."

"We can do that." Henry offered, Emma looked over at the kid with a raised eyebrow, he sounded excessively eager.

"No, no," Artie shook his head. "I don't want you going out of your way."

"We were already on our way there, right Emma?"

Emma nodded, she gave the redheaded man a smile but inwardly wondering what the hell the kid was up to now.

"We can pick it up and bring it to you. Just go get some rest." She said, channeling her 'sheriff voice' a bit. Artie started to smile but was cut off by a cough; he just nodded his approval waving a hand in thanks before he turned to head back the way he came. After watching him a bit to make sure he didn't collapse, Emma turned her attention from the retreating man to the boy by her side to see him with a grin on his face.

He was definitely planning something.

"Okay, what are you up to?" Emma asked going with the direct approach, she hoped with her history of going along with his previous plans she might get some info. No such luck, Henry quickly schooled his look to that of indifference reminding the blonde of a certain mayor in that moment but she shook it off as she raised an eyebrow silently waiting for an answer.

"It's nothing," He said a bit too fast, "Come on we should hurry up." With that, he scurried towards her bug, opened the door and dived into the passenger seat before she could say anything. Emma just sighed as she made her way to her car. Whatever it was she was going to find out sooner or later.

It turned out sooner, she really should have caught on when the boy rushed to pick up the soup. She could barely get him to hold on so they could grab something to eat as well before they were on their way to Archie's house. The moment she heard the barking at the door, it finally sunk it what the ten year old's mind was at. Once they were inside, Henry was practically jumped on in greeting by the Dalmatian while Emma handed the heated container to Archie. As soon as it was handed over the question was asked cutting off the wheezed thank you the man tried to get out.

"Has Pongo taken his walk today, yet?" Henry asked innocently from his knelt position in front of the dog, Archie shook his head while Emma tried to raise an eyebrow in the stern way that she seen Regina do countless times before, hoping to have the same luck. Total failure, not even a glance was thrown her way.

"I can do that," Henry offered, he looked at Emma as he continued, "I could take care of him until you feels better."

"I don't know…" Emma started.

"Please, Grandma and Grandpa already moved out. We have space, besides Archie can focus on feeling better that way too." Henry paused for a moment before adding. "You did say he needed to rest."

Emma nearly groaned at her own words used against her. In that moment she reminded herself just who exactly her son's other parent was. If Regina was here she'd most likely say something like, 'See Miss Swan, you should be careful what you say'. Damn that woman and her fucking power suits, even if they are sexy as…

"Emma?" Archie wheezed, as he snapped the blonde out of her thoughts, she blinked to see three sets of eyes on her.

"Sorry, what?" Shit. She needed to pay attention.

"I said if it was too much trouble, Pongo will be fine here." He said giving her an out. But she already knew she was outnumbered the kid had his best pleading look on which Pongo took his cue giving the classic puppy dog look. Anyone who looked at them was a goner.

"That's okay; just focus on betting better." As soon as the words where out of her mouth, Henry jumped up with an excited 'yes' while Pongo barked his approval as well. Emma rolled her eyes and shared a small grin with Archie, "But you have to take care of him, Henry, considering it was you who offered." She reminded him.

Henry nodded happily, and one bag of dog food, bowels, a leash and a few goodbyes later. They were on their way back to the apartment with Henry excitedly talking about stuff that the two could do. Emma shook her head, thinking back to the time during Archie's suppose death when she had gotten the dog for him. She remembered how happy he had been and knew he had been a bit sadden to loose his almost pet when Archie showed up but it had been lost under his relief of his friend's survival and his mom's innocence. Come to think of it, he wasn't the only member of the family that seem to have an odd connection with the dog. A part of her wondered if his fondness of Pongo stemmed from a certain Queen.

A few hours later, everything was going well and Emma was actually impressed. On their walk back to the apartment, Pongo had taken care of his 'business' and she had a good laugh at the disgusted look on the kid's face as he used a bag to pick it up. The glare he shot at her faded as soon as Pongo nudged him obviously ready to keep walking. By the time they made it to the apartment, the incident had clearly faded from his mind as he set up everything for their canine guest. Within minutes a bowl of water and food was placed in the kitchen in the corner, the bag put away under the sink, the leash on the coffee table where the keys usually sit.

Soon Henry sat on the couch watching TV, Pongo sat beside him on the floor as Henry talked to the canine about the show as if he could understand what was being said. Emma watched the scene for a bit before she sighed mentally thinking of how she would handle being asked about getting a puppy when Pongo was set to go back home. Maybe she should just tell him to ask Regina, she was still new to the whole mother thing.

Hopefully, she was merciful enough not to throw her into the firing range. She knew they had come to a truce ever since they got back from Neverland, they agreed to both be apart of Henry's life. They were both his parents, even though everyone else had a bit to say about that, but thankfully Snow backed off after Emma finally sat down and told her parents that she refused to take a kid away from his parent. She had been there and seen it happen too many times.

When Snow backed off, Charming followed leaving Neal the only one with a major say in the matters. At first, they had tried to split the parenting three ways since he was his biological father but after a few instances happened. Mostly involving Henry being in the principle's office for fighting, sneaking out and disobeying certain orders from his brunette haired mother, it had gotten shaky. When events lead up to Henry once again in the hospital but this time for eating some berries that he was allergic to.

It had finally came to a breaking point, he had apparently eaten some berries that Regina had told him to stay away from ever since he was younger. But Henry listening to Neal, whom said the Evil Queen lied about everything else she might have been lying about that, had eaten some. The whole experience had been horrible. Regina and Emma had arrived instantly to see a tearful Neal apologizing to Henry whom was knocked out due to the medicine given.

Emma had thrown Neal from the room ready to shove one of Regina's cursed apples down his throat. It had taken both Charming and Snow to calm her down to reason, and then it had been her turn to calm down Regina as she held a fireball in her hand ready to launch it at a cowering Neal in the corner of the quickly evacuated waiting room. Thankfully, the blonde Savoir had been able to convince her that she needed to be there for Henry also a few promises to get Neal later might have been said under her breath not that she could remember.

In fact, the only thing she remembered from that moment was having stared into dark eyes filled with anger, fear and love, it she had nearly blown away. Either way it had been quickly decided that Neal was unfit to be a parental figure. Even though he was still able to see the boy, he just shared the same rights in how he was raised as Snow and Charming. Moreover, if she was being honest with herself, Emma had seen the look of relief on his face at the decision.

Still, the blonde wondered what would have happened if Henry hadn't have called out for them, she was sure she would have kissed the former Queen. But would she have responded was the question that lingered in her mind, along with a number of other things that involved the woman. Namely if apples wasn't just stop at being her favorite fruit, it was a known fact you are what you eat.

So taste wise…

A sharp bark sounded throughout the apartment which made Emma jump. She looked to see Henry focused on something on the TV but move his hand to pat Pongo on his head. Although the dog had his head turned towards her as if he knew that she was having inappropriate thoughts about his favorite female human. Emma forced herself not to blush, she refused to react to having been caught by a dog. Instead, with her head held high, she turned to the kitchen intending to make some hotdogs for dinner.

Two hours later, dinner was finished and Emma joined the two on the couch. Henry popped in one of his movies, which she didn't mind since it is a Friday night. No school meant no bedtime or at least a later bedtime as Regina reminded her several times, but only a few minutes into the movie it was interrupted by a knock on the door. Henry paused the movie, while Emma got up to opened the door. Her curiosity turned to confusion at the sight of Neal standing on the other side of the door.

"Neal?" Emma blurted out. The man had taken to calling ahead mostly encase Regina was around. Since nowadays it wasn't unusual for the woman to be over at the apartment or the three to be at her house as they had dinners together most nights. Although Regina still refused to stay long within the apartment that used to be Snow White's, so it was mostly at the manor.

Ever since the hospital scene the former thief had been wary of the former Evil Queen. So much so it took him a few months to even go near anywhere she was, including the dinner where he'd fidget around nervously before calling out an excuse and take off to the nearest exit, if he caught sight of her. Surprisingly nobody cared, Emma had thought Gold would say something about his son's behavior but apparently, Ruby had told Belle what happened.

In turn, Belle told Gold, Regina had every right to protect her son so he was not to interfere as he would have done the same, so in Ruby's words the sweet Liberian had pussy-whipped the Dark One. Even now, Neal appeared nervous as he glanced around him almost as if expecting purple smoke to appear to indicated Regina was near. If Emma wasn't so surprised to see him, she would have laughed at the look on his face.

"Hey, Emma," Neal said with his boyish grin. "Is Henry ready to go?"

"Go?" Emma questioned. "Go where?"

"Camping." He answered, when she remained quiet, his grin faded. "Didn't he tell you? I can't take him next weekend because of work, so I told him I could take him this weekend. He said he would ask but I didn't get a reply so I thought I'd at least swing by and see."

Emma nodded understandingly, as she turned to see Henry whom was still on the couch. He placed the remote on the coffee table as the movie was now long forgotten.

"Why didn't you tell me, does Regina know?" She asked as she motioned for Neal to come in, he did but as soon as his eyes fell on the black and white dog, he jumped back with a yelp. Instantly, Pongo rose from his seated position to a standing one as he let out a bark at the unfamiliar stranger that only caused Neal to flinch and Henry to look at his father in surprise.

"You're scared of dogs?" The boy asked confused.

"You're not getting out of this that easily." Emma said before Neal could answer, although she did smirk a bit. One incident back around the time they had first met in which a police dog had taken a good chunk out of Neal's pants when he tried to hop a fence, had left him with a sore and teeth marked ass. He hadn't been too fond of dogs after that. "So you want to tell me about this camping trip?"

"I'm sorry, I kinda forgot. I was going to ask you at Granny's but we saw Archie and I just got distracted." Henry replied, his eyes darted from between the two adults and the canine with a troubled look as he clearly tried to figure out what to do.

Emma looked at her son, she knew he really must have forgotten as he had looked just as confused as her at who could have been knocking at the door earlier. When she had turned back to face him, the guilty look she had caught on his face was enough to know he was telling the truth. Emma then turned to Neal, disappointment clear on his face.

"I guess I could try to get another weekend off soon." Neal said softly, Henry nodded sadly, which caused Emma to shake her head.

"No, you guys go ahead. I guess I can look after Pongo until you get back ." Emma sighed, not wanting to be the reason her son didn't get to spend time with his father. Especially now that Neal was actually doing well in his father role, Henry beamed as he jumped off the couch and gave her a hug.

"Thanks ma," He said excitedly, "I promise I'll take care of Pongo as soon as I get back."

Within a few minutes, he was packed and out the door. Emma turned to the Dalmatian, still wondering how she ended up in this situation.

"I guess it's just you and me. How bad could it be?"

-x-

Ruby looked up at the sound of the dinner door opening, only to raise an eyebrow at the sight of her friend. The blonde looked worse for wear, with her hair more tangled then curly, her shirt looked ruffled with a few dried spots of dirt and grass on it. While her jacket looked to be torn in several places almost like she had been in a fight. She knew something was up and with that in mind she quickly started on the Sheriff's usual drink of choice before she made her way over.

"Hot chocolate with extra cinnamon." Emma groaned as she heard the waitress approach, she wasn't surprised when the woman placed her order down the instant it was out of her mouth. She quickly picked up the cup and took a long drink from it, glad that she was now given the larger mugs because if she had a smaller one at the moment, it would have been more the halfway gone.

"That bad?" Ruby questioned, the blonde gave her a look before continuing on with her drink. "So what happened?"

"Well, you know how Archie is sick? Well Henry decided he would be best to take care of Pongo while he's recovering." Emma said, "But apparently, Henry forgot that him and Neal are suppose to have a father son day hiking so I was stuck as the dog sitter."

Ruby raised an eyebrow, "Not a dog lover?"

Emma scoffed, "Its not that it's the fact that he woke me up this morning a six am, mind you, by barking in my face. Then when we went for his morning walk, he ran off and when I tried to follow him, I ended up tripping and lost sight of him. Since I wasn't exactly in the mind frame for a chase. I only just found him, digging through Marco's garbage."

Ruby snorted in amusement only to receive a 'don't even start' glare from the blonde.

"So where is he?" She asked.

"Outside." Emma responded, she pointed to the spot she had seen Archie tie the dog to whenever he came into the diner. The two looked out the glass door at the dog in question just in time to see a drunken Leroy trip over the leash, the dwarf appeared to be cursing loudly as he struggled to get to his feet which were tangled in the leash. Emma cursed as she sprang to her feet and high tailed it to the door only to see Pongo break loose and run off as Leroy shouted after him.

"SERIOUSLY, ARE YOU EVER FUCKING SOBER?!" Emma shouted at the angry dwarf, he only sneered at her. Emma glared right back as she clenched her hand into a fist ready to knock some sense into the man when he was saved by Ruby when she stepped outside and handed Emma a to-go cup.

"Here take this and go find him." Ruby said, Emma gave her friend a smile as she whispered under her breath. "And remember your the Sheriff, can't have you put in your own jail." Emma nodded her thanks before she took a sip and started in the direction Pongo went. She hoped it wouldn't be as bad as this morning.

It was.

Not only had it taken her a half hour to find him. When she did, he had taken off in a mad dash that only her years of being a bondsperson had helped her with. When she had him cornered in a yard it would have been over if not for the owners sprinkler system that decided that moment to turn on. So here she was an hour and a half later covered damp and covered in mud since her last ditch effort to grab the dog before he ran ended up with her doing a slip and slide.

She continued down the street calling out Pongo name between whistles and everything else she could think of that would cause him to respond. As it started to hit the two hour mark, Emma mentally debate on calling David to see if anyone reported the canine. Even if nobody did, the man was a shepherd he should know how to locate a lost animal. Just as she fished her phone out of her pocket. She heard the sound of familiar barking, she turned towards the direction only to see the Mills household standing tall.

"Shit!" Emma muttered, the last thing she needed was Pongo digging up Regina's backyard or worse defile her apple tree. To this day, she couldn't help but wonder if Henry was the only reason for her bitchy attitude back then, because after the tree incident all gloves seemed to come off. Not that she was complaining those moments had fueled some pretty wild fantasies of hers.

Just as a particular, one started to form in her mind consisting of a breathless mayor pushed up against said tree, another round of barking kicked Emma from her thoughts, with a quick shake of her head to push both the image and her arousal back. She pushed open the gate and took off towards the back of the house. She prayed that she wasn't too late, and would have to explain to Artie and Henry why Pongo had been turned into a plush doll.

Not to mention Regina might curse her too, then again she might enjoy it. Emma forced the thought back as rounded the corner, her thoughts set finally capturing the mutt. But just as her view landed on the dog it was the image of whom he was with that nearly caused her to trip over her own feet. There crouched down in front of her current enemy was the former Evil Queen, but unlike the blonde had ever seen.

Her normal power suit was replaced by a blouse and a pair of jeans something so simple but made the woman look less like the mayor she was familiar with and more like the woman, Henry had claimed she was before the book. The woman even Snow claimed to have met as a girl, a woman that had made Emma slightly jealous of the two for having met. But there she was crouched down petting the Dalmatian with a breathtaking smile, as the dog's tail wagged furiously in response. However, the moment was broken by the blond the moment she regained her balance and two pairs of curious eyes landed on her. Emma gave a small wave, her cheeks flushing red slightly as Regina slowly stood up her eyes still firmly on the blond.

"Miss Swan." Regina greeted, her eyebrow raised at the ragged appearance of the Sheriff, "I suppose some things haven't changed."

"Sorry," Emma apologized sheepishly. "Just been a rather crazy morning."

"He was lost since this morning?" Regina asked sounding a bit surprised. Ever since the curse broke, while most people changed somewhat they pretty much continued their lives as their curse selves had. But many have taken a bit more caution since there where more villains than the Evil Queen and even the Dark One lurking around.

"No, well yes." Emma sighed recalling the disaster of the morning, "I lost him during his morning wall this morning but I did find him. Thanks to Leroy he kinda took off on me again when I was at the diner."

"Any why was he with you to begin with?"

"Archie is sick, so Henry volunteered to watch him."

"And where is Henry?"

"Camping with Neal," Emma replied and knew instantly that was the wrong thing to say as Regina's eyes narrowed. But before she could backtrack her stomach rumbled reminding her of its neglect. Regina sighed before motioning towards the glass doors that lead to the kitchen.

"We might as well get you fed, Miss Swan, while you tell me exactly how you ended up rewarding Henry on his lack of responsibility." Regina said, she bent down to pick up the abandoned apple basket before heading towards the doors leaving both Sheriff and dog behind. For a brief moment, Emma contemplated on the idea of grabbing Pongo and making a run for it only to see the dog had already decided to follow after the brunette.

"Traitor." Emma muttered under her breath as she walked to the house. Instead of stopping at the kitchen, she continued to the study knowing that she would be directed there anyway. Whenever, they would discuss things involving Henry or even about their jobs they would do it in the study. At first, Emma had thought it was one of Regina's ways to intimate her but after one night in which a bottle of her cider was shared as they spoke about things on the leaving room couch.

Everything had gotten a bit too personal, as their conversation turned from Henry onto their own pasts as the alcohol slowly caught up to them. Nothing had happened although, they had fallen asleep on the couch together. Thankfully, both had woken before Henry but after a bit of an awkward air between them. It was an unspoken decision to keep it in the study. Even with the thoughts that flowed through Emma's mind, location didn't matter. Emma laughed a bit at that, knowing if anyone knew her thoughts all hell would break loose.

"Something amusing?" came Regina's voice from behind her, Emma turned around to see her holding a plate in one hand with what looked like a chicken sandwich while the other hand had two wine glasses. Her head was slightly cocked to the side, her eyes quickly swept over the room obviously looking for anything out of place, finding nothing they returned to the blonde standing in the middle of the room. She raised an eyebrow in question.

"Just hungry." Emma grinned, despite rolling her eyes, Regina handed over the plate as well as one of the glasses. With a quick, thanks, Emma sat down and immediately started on her sandwich, she swallowed a moan at the taste. One of the reasons she enjoyed the family dinners had instantly been Regina's cooking. Even the first couple of times in which everything had been painfully awkward and tense, she often found herself enjoying the food regardless.

Regina filled both of their glasses, before sitting down herself watching the Sheriff practically inhale her food. Normally she would have said something about it but decided to let it go instead focusing on the topic on hand. With a soft sigh, she spoke drawing the Emma's attention from the near remains of her food.

"Well Miss Swan, would you like to inform me of why our son is off with that moron when he had promised to take care of Pongo?" Regina asked.

Emma swallowed her bite, "It was kind of a last minute thing. He was suppose to talk to me about it this morning but we kinda bumped into Archie. He just wanted to help and well, he didn't even remember until Neal showed up."

"He showed up without it being confirmed by you or Henry?" Regina scoffed.

"Come on give him a break, he's new to this whole," Emma paused trying to find the right word, "_thing?_ He just wanted to spend some time with Henry besides Henry wanted to go."

"I have no problem with that," Regina replied, "my problem is with the reason as to why Henry is with him when he said he would be taking care of Pongo. Just because better things come up doesn't mean he should abandoned his responsibilities."

"He's not abandoning them, when he gets back he will take care of Pongo."

"But that's beside the point, he still went off when he knows he's suppose to take care of him in the first place. Just because you filled in for him doesn't make it okay."

Emma rolled her eyes, "What did you want me to do, tell him he can't go?" Emma asked a bit frustrated, the implied _like you_ well heard.

"Well its obviously to late for that, but no." Regina took a sip from up glass before continuing, "allowing him to think he can get away with something like that even if it was accidental will open him up for mistakes like it."

"Seriously? Just because of Pongo?"

Regina shook her head, "It's more then that, when Henry started acting out. He was living with you, yet it took until he landed in the hospital for everyone to understand that he is still a child-"

"Wait," Emma interrupted angrily, as she stood up and glared down at the woman before her. "You're blaming _me _for that? Need I remind you that I'm the kid's only parent that didn't cause him to end up in the hospital."

Regina glared back as she stood up, "Need I remind _you_, that the turnover was meant for you in the first place. But that isn't what this is about, its about the fact that while you call yourself a parent but when it comes to punishments or anything of that nature you always deflect it to me."

"Isn't that what you want?" Emma snapped back, "After all your the Evil Queen, punishment should be your thing."

"I don't get enjoyment in grounding my son," Regina shot back, "but if it is necessary I will, that's is called being responsible."

"Well I apologize, its not like I had parents to learn that from."

"I never told them to place you in a wardrobe, but if I hadn't we wouldn't be having this problem now would we?"

As they stood glaring at each other, neither noticed a certain dog come into the room. His sights locked on the mostly eaten sandwich, noticing the humans were obviously distracted he swiftly made his way over to his target bumping into Emma as he grabbed it with his teeth, not knowing what he set off. Emma had taken a step toward Regina, ready to shoot back a reply to her comment but the pressure to her legs caused her to stumble forward and she ended up half falling half stumbling into Regina.

Not suspecting the extra weight, Regina fell dragging Emma down with her as they both landed on the floor. Emma swore as she placed her hands on either side of the ground, lifting her upper body up a bit. She looked down to apologize but her voice was lost as she looked down in dark eyes still intense due to the swift turn in conversation. But for Emma the argument was forgotten, replaced instead by the same intense feeling she had in the hospital that day. She could feel Regina shift underneath her in an attempt to push her off but it only added to the fire like feeling that started to fill her very being.

"Miss Sw-" Regina started as she realized the woman had no intentions of getting up. The mayor had full intention to remind the Sheriff when her words were stolen from her in the form of a kiss, that only grew deeper as she opened her mouth to protest. The urge to magically remove the blonde faded as she slowly became lost in the kiss herself. As it grew more passionate, more intense then either women would have thought possible. Hands begin to roam, one pair burying themselves into long curly hair while the other lifted up the edges of a blouse intent on touching the skin underneath.

It would have continued if not for a sharp bark that broke them both from their moment. As if finally realizes what was taking place, the two jumped apart, Emma scrambled back to her feet while as Regina did so in a more graceful movement. Emma shifted, her heart pounding as she tried to come up with an apology but before she could say anything Regina lifted a hand to stop her.

"I think its time for you to go."

Emma felt her heart drop to the pit of her stomach.

"Re-Regina I-" She started, Regina nodded towards the dog that currently licking the plate clean.

"Considering I don't have what is needed in order to take care of a dog. It may be wise to go get the supplies." Regina replied, Emma looked at her confused, in which Regina smirked. "Miss Swan, I do believe we have more...matters...to discuss, but I don't want to make Pongo as sick as his owner nor would I like a mess on my clean floors. So a walk to your apartment and back should be enough, maybe also collecting his things. I wish to clear up matters before Henry comes back."

Emma grinned as she started to catch on, "Can do." She said as she made her way towards the doorway, calling for Pongo to follow her which for once he did. She left the room with only a backwards glance at Regina, whom bent down to pick up the plate that had been knocked to the ground. The blonde felt a light bush against her leg and grinned, leaning down a bit to pet the dog as she muttered,

"You and I are even."

Pongo barked almost as if in agreement.


End file.
